On October 27 at the recently opened Track 29 venue, Taste of Northshore will present selections from several different eateries around the city as well as a not-so-silent auction to benefit the Northside Neighborhood House. With anticipation for more than 400 guests to attend, hopefully generating more than $40,000 for the organization, the money will be used to serve individuals within NNH programs, including direct assistance clients, the GED program and the after school program.
Direct assistance clients are residents living north of the river who need food, are set for disconnect with their utilities, or need help paying for prescriptions. The NNH has recently started doing budgeting with these clients who come in requesting financial assistance, says Rachel Gammon, executive director of the NNH. Gammon says, “Our special events provide about a 1/7 of our funding, so we really need for this to be a big success to meet those needs.”
The NNH did not have a fall event until their 80th anniversary when they added this event to the spring ladies golf tournament to allow their fundraising efforts to reach a wider audience. “We wanted something that was fun and creative and a little different because Chattanooga has so many non-profits that do so many fundraisers,” Gammon says.
First on the agenda for the Thursday night party is the gourmet food tasting that will feature local eats from Belle’s Cupcakes, Bluewater Grille, Brewhaus German American Pub, Clumpies Ice Cream Co., Easy Bistro, Lupi’s Pizza Pies, Raw-Sushi Bar, St. John’s Restaurant, The Public House, Zar Zours Eats and Jackie’s Treats, and others.
Immediately following the tasting will be the fun, fascinating “spin” on the traditional charitable auction. The event has already received auction items from more than 70 locations, including Bellie’s and Babies, the Bluff View Inn, the Melting Pot, Sweet Cece’s, and the TN Valley Railroad. One auction item is a $600 handbag from Worth NY and W by Worth.
“We’ve got some really great items this year including the two weekend getaways, one in the Smokies and one in Lookout Highlands. These will be done in the typical live auction format,” Gammon says. The venue is Track 29, located on the historic Chattanooga Choo-Choo campus. Gammon says they chose Track 29 because it’s large and the fundraiser had out grown the place they had before, a good problem to have for a non-profit fundraiser, she adds. Track 29 also has great sound and a very professional staff that should take the event up a notch, Gammon says. The NNH was also anxious to get into something a little different that would provide the NNH an opportunity to develop more relationships with different people.
“…Because if you can bring more people in, you can really let them know about what you are doing as an organization hopefully throughout the event as well,” Gammon says. Should 400 guests attend the event, this will be a 25 percent increase in attendance for the fall NNH fundraiser and provide the lively and vivacious atmosphere Gammon says she anticipates. The anticipation comes also on the part of those at the venue, as this will be the first non-profit type of event Track 29 is going to host. Gammon says the main reason for the fundraiser is evident in two young gentlemen who were former program participants and worked at the NNH for 13 years and returned to visit the center this month.
“I think there is just such an emphasis on relationships in the community here [at NNH] and so I want people to understand that is what this benefits,” Gammon says. “It’s not just having kids after school here but having kids here for six to seven years throughout their school years and [making that] deep connection. We are not just providing homework assistance but providing them the means to be like these two young men are, career driven individuals who are giving back to the community.”
This fundraiser is especially important due to the huge increase over the past couple of years in the number of people requesting assistance from the NNH, she says. “About 40 percent of the people we see need help with those basic needs or are new clients that have never had to ask for assistance before. It’s just so important that we can raise as much money from special events as possible so that we don’t have to turn people away,” she says. “Our board made the commitment a couple of years ago when the economy got really bad not to turn anyone away and we still haven’t had to say ‘we are out of money and we can’t help you.’ It’s good to be able to do that.”
Online ticket purchase and weekly updates on auction items and restaurants that have been added are available at www.nnhouse.org.